Preliminary Injunction against Publication and Dissemination of Documents Received in Public Records Request Violates First Amendment
Council of the City of New Orleans v. Washington, 13 So.3d 662 (La. Ct. App. 2009)
In this case, Relator Tracie Washington, a Louisiana attorney, and others, appealed the trial court’s issuance of a preliminary injunction which prevented them from publishing or disseminating documents received in response to a public records request and required that all documents be returned, among other restrictions. The request at issue sought email records from a number of City Council members from 2006 to the present. The documents produced were not reviewed for privilege prior to production. Accordingly, the City Council sought and received a preliminary injunction to prevent their dissemination and require their return. Relators appealed and the trial court was reversed upon the appellate court’s finding that the trial court’s injunction violated the Relators’ First Amendment rights.